Microsoft Word Top Ten Tips

1. Normal/defaults

2. Quick Access Toolbar 3. AutoCorrect 4. Section symbol 5. AutoText/Quick Part Gallery 6. Insert Text from File 7. Suppress page number 8. Converting documents 9. Reveal Formatting 10. Resources

Administrative Office Created by Lois McLeod, AO-DTS-SDSO-TD of the U.S. Courts June 2016

Normal/defaults

To set the default font:

1. Launch the Font dialog box.

2. Choose the desired Font and Size.

3. Click Set As Default.

4. Click All documents based on the Normal.dotm template? and click OK.

#2 Quick Access Toolbar

The Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) begins with only three tools: Save, Undo, and Redo.

Here are two ways to add tools:

1. Click the More button ( ) at the right end of the QAT and select any listed tool desired.

Click More Commands at the bottom of the QAT drop-down list to access All Commands and/or to rearrange the order of the tools on the QAT.

2. Right-click any tool on any ribbon and select Add to Quick Access Toolbar.

#3 AutoCorrect

AutoCorrect enables you to create “abbreviations” for often-used text and/or corrections to incorrectly typed text.

1. On the File tab, click Options. 2. Click the Proofing tab. 3. Click AutoCorrect Options. 4. Click the AutoCorrect tab. 5. In the Replace box, enter the abbreviation (or misspelled/mistyped word to be corrected automatically). 6. In the With box, enter the replacement text. 7. Click Add. 8. To close the dialog boxes, click OK twice.

As the abbreviation or incorrect form of the word is typed (followed by pressing the Spacebar, Tab or Enter), it is automatically replaced with the expanded version or correct spelling.

AutoCorrect entries can be created from existing text and it even captures the formatting.

1. Select the desired text. 2. On the File tab, click Options. 3. Click the Proofing tab. 4. Click AutoCorrect Options. 5. Click the AutoCorrect tab. 6. In the Replace box, enter the abbreviation. NOTE: Type a forward slash, the # (hash) symbol, ~ (tilde) or some other character to distinguish it as an abbreviation. 7. In the With box, the replacement text will already be there, including formatting. 8. Click Add. 9. To close the dialog boxes, click OK twice.

As the abbreviation is typed (followed by pressing the Spacebar, Tab or Enter), it is automatically replaced with the expanded, formatted text.

To delete an AutoCorrect entry (e.g., the copyright symbol):

1. Click the listed item. 2. Click Delete. 3. Click OK twice.

Review other tabs in the AutoCorrect section (e.g., AutoFormat and AutoFormat As You Go) for other settings that can be customized.

#4 Section Symbol

If you previously used the keyboard combination of Alt+2+1 for the section symbol, it still works.

Creating a new keyboard shortcut for the section symbol is simple.

1. From the Insert ribbon, click the Symbol drop-down list, then select More Symbols.

2. Click the Special Characters tab.

3. Click the Section symbol line once.

4. Click Shortcut Key.

5. In the Press new shortcut key box, use the keyboard to press the ALT key and the letter S.

Notice that it is unassigned. Be careful when assigning shortcut keys that you don’t overwrite an existing assignment.

6. Click Assign.

7. Click Close twice.

A non-breaking space (Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar) should always follow a section symbol so that it will never “break” at the end of a line. The § will stay connected to the number following it.

A non-breaking space is also helpful in names and addresses (e.g., street number with street name, state name with zip code).

A non-breaking hyphen (Ctrl+Shift+hyphen) should be used in case numbers, social security numbers, telephone numbers, and any other time the entry should not “break” at the end of a line.

#5 AutoText/Quick Part Gallery

AutoText is reusable content that you can store and access again and again.

To save AutoText:

1. Select the text you want to reuse. 2. On the Insert ribbon, in the Text Group, click the Quick Parts drop-down list. 3. Select AutoText > Save Selection to AutoText Gallery. 4. Click OK.

To use AutoText:

1. Click in the document where you want the AutoText inserted. 2. On the Insert ribbon, in the Text group, click the Quick Parts drop-down list. 3. Click AutoText. 4. Click desired AutoText.

Quick Parts

To save to Quick Parts:

1. Select a phrase, sentence, graphic, or other portion of the document. 2. On the Insert ribbon, in the Text group, click the Quick Parts drop-down list. 3. Select Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery. 4. Click OK.

To use Quick Parts:

1. Click in the document where you want the Quick Parts inserted. 2. On the Insert ribbon, in the Text group, click the Quick Parts drop-down list. 3. Click the desired item from Quick Parts.

Building Blocks Organizer

AutoText and Quick Parts entries are listed in the Building Blocks Organizer along with the numerous built-in functions of Word (e.g., page numbers).

To edit the properties of or to delete entries from AutoText/Quick Parts:

1. On the Insert ribbon, in the Text group, click the Quick Parts drop-down list. 2. Click Building Blocks Organizer. 3. Sort by Gallery to ensure AutoText is at the top of the list, Quick Parts are on the list alphabetically, and both are more easily accessible. 4. Choose the item from AutoText or Quick Parts. 5. Select Edit Properties or Delete.

#6 Insert Text from File

This is one of my favorite features for reusing existing text, as opposed to using copy/paste to retrieve text from old documents.

Save desired blocks of text in separate files. I call them mini-files, although they are not limited in size or formatting.

When ready to use:

1. From the Insert ribbon, in the Text group, click the Object drop-down list. 2. Select Text from File. 3. Navigate to the desired file. 4. Click Insert.

NOTE: The individual files can contain merge fields, variables, content controls, and other editable items. For example, a caption “mini-file” could contain a fill-in box for entering a case number. It could contain a drop-down list of options, such as a list of judge names from which to choose.

#7 Suppress Page Number on First Page

When page numbers are added to a document, a Header/Footer Design ribbon becomes available. One of the options on the ribbon is Different First Page. Select this check box to suppress the page number on the first page.

This can also be done from the Page Layout ribbon.

1. Launch the Page Setup dialog box. 2. Select the Layout tab. 3. Select the Different First Page check box.

#8 Converting Documents

One of the easiest ways to convert a document from WordPerfect to Word is to simply open the .wpd in MS Word. Many .wpd documents open beautifully in MS Word and can then be saved as a *.docx.

A WordPerfect document can also be saved as an MS Word document (choose MS Word 2007/2010 from the File type list). Then, close the document in WordPerfect and open it in MS Word.

Once opened in MS Word, some documents need formatting adjustments. One option is to select the entire document (Ctrl+A) and apply the desired formatting. A good approach is to select Normal style, then select Modify. Make desired changes to fonts, paragraph formatting, etc. Then, with the entire document selected, click Normal from the Styles Gallery.

Copy/paste is also available, but is usually not necessary if the above techniques are used. Pasting Text Only, then reformatting, is often a good option.

Rule of thumb: Retyping is NEVER a preferred option because it’s redundant and risks errors (e.g., omissions, typos, etc.). Reformatting is ALWAYS possible.

#9 Reveal Formatting

There are three ways MS Word reveals “what’s going on” in a document.

1. Show/Hide: This is the paragraph symbol (¶) in the Paragraph group of the Home ribbon.

When it is turned on, paragraph marks and other hidden formatting symbols will display within the document.

View without Show/Hide on View with Show/Hide on

2. Ribbon “on” indicator: Active tools will always be highlighted in a color (e.g., blue, gray, etc.).

3. Shift+F1 will open the Reveal Formatting pane to the right of the document. This will display all formatting where the cursor is. Hyperlinks will open the relevant dialog boxes, if changes are desired.

#10 Resources

The link for the SDSO Training webpage is: http://training.sdso.ao.dcn/

Click Microsoft Training.

Here is the Microsoft Training page.

Here’s the Microsoft Word Resources page. The Multimedia Library is FANTASTIC.

At the top of the screen, under Additional Training, there are links to the Reference Guide Library and the Video Clip Library.

Materials are updated regularly and new resources will be available.